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Partnership With Ankara Gathering Pace

Iran’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Mahmoud Va’ezi, and Turkey’s Minister of Customs and Trade, Nurettin Canikli, in a meeting held in Tehran on Tuesday, emphasized the need to expand cooperation and enhance bilateral trade.
“Iran and Turkey seek to expand their bilateral trade to reach $30 billion in the coming years from the current $15 billion,” Va’ezi was quoted by IRNA as saying.
As both countries aim to increase the level of cross-border transactions, Va’ezi and Canikli agreed to increase investments in the Khoy-Razi joint border, which they believe plays an important role in boosting the volume of bilateral trade.
Canikli mentioned as the main goal of his visit, “identifying and removing all barriers that impede mutual trade.”

Preferential Trade Agreement
On a separate note, the President’s Chief of Staff, Mohammad Nahavandian and the Turkish ambassador to Tehran, Hakan Tekin held a meeting on Monday.
“Expansion and consolidation of economic ties between Iran and Turkey will guarantee enhancement of bilateral political and cultural ties,” ILNA quoted Nahavandian as saying.
While expressing satisfaction over the current level of political relations between Tehran and Ankara, Nahavandian appreciated the Turkish ambassador’s efforts towards expansion of economic relations and emphasized the need for implementation of preferential trade agreement (PTA) between the two countries.
He called for the concerned authorities to pursue speedy implementation of preferential trade agreement, while acknowledging that the process calls for removal of some existing obstacles in the way of export from Iran to Turkey.
According to Nahavandian, the recent meetings between the two countries’ officials were aimed at facilitating and accelerating the expansion of trade.
Tekin, for his part, expressed hope that he can be “instrumental in consolidating economic ties between the two countries” during his tenure as ambassador to Iran, adding that Turkey is interested in establishing preferential trade agreement with Iran and “seeks to establish free trade with Iran.”
Iran and Turkey have recently taken important steps towards promoting bilateral relations, including the establishment of a High Council on Iran-Turkey Strategic Cooperation, the first session of which was held in Ankara back in June, when President Hassan Rouhani visited Turkey. During his visit the president signed an accord on preferential trade agreement (PTA) with Ankara. Based on the PTA, the two sides agreed to decrease the customs clearance tariffs on 265 goods items, including clothing.